We check in with people at each stage of the cash transfer process to see how things are going. Take a look at some of their stories as they appear here in real-time.
Learn more about how recipients opt in to share their stories.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I now own goats that are saving for the future of my children's education. For now, they are still young and I know I will be able to raise more cash to fund for their education by selling the offsprings. I am assured that I won't struggle to raise their school fees and reach their educational goals.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was early in the morning when I received a notification on my phone. On checking the contents, I realised that it was a message from GiveDirectly informing me that I had received my first transfer. I was very happy to receive the money which I never expected I would receive in my life.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent KES 15000 of the transfer on buying a new bed and a mattress as I did not have comfortable bedding. I was sleeping on the old traditional bed and worn-out mats. Because of this, I needed to replace them thus I purchased the new bed and mattress which I am currently using. Apart from this, I also spent KES 25000 to buy five goats, which I am currently keeping in my homestead. I am keeping them so that when they reproduce and increase in number, I can sell them in case of any financial challenge like educating my children. I am also spending the remaining amount to buy daily foodstuffs and meeting other household expenses.
Enrolled
access_time 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Education for my children has been the preferred desire in my life and I have always wanted to have assets that can support them whenever they are through with their primary school. Considering this ambition, my plan is to start with 10 goats of $30 each whenever I receive my transfers. This will be my long term investment to cater for the school expenses once they advance to secondary level because as at now, they are still in lower classes. On the other hand, I plan to use utmost $100 to replace my beddings with new ones, because the ones I am currently using can never give me a good sleep and I usually feel body pain in the mornings. This will change my life to a better version, a transformation that I have wished for long.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Waking up in morning with all the energy to take up my day's work gives me the feeling of being happy. I usually work in my farm first before I can do my other job of charcoal burning in the afternoon after my first meal. In the evening I am always exhausted due to the day's strenuous work.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My husband died immediately I was married almost 15 years ago and I turned to be the sole breadwinner for the family. Despite having been adopted as a third wife, I am still assuming the role of providing the basic needs for my children. Charcoal burning as my source of income is the only work that I have known in my life and this work is usually exhaustive and it drains much of my energy. Imagine spending the whole week preparing the charcoal and the income is utmost $4 per sack!! This is something that is so discouraging but since I do not have any other option, this remains to be my reliable source of income and therefore, I consider lack of a decent and reliable work being the biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life.
